bdm

I'm going to touch on a few topic that i've read in this multi page thread.
 
1. Is FF slowing down?  Answer yes, I think other social media consumes peoples free time online.  I think they get most of their breaking news / updates there and come here just to see if anyone they know has something going on.  I'm not a social media user I only use Discord and involved in several topic servers there.
2. There are no moose in Great Smokey Mountains National Park, they would be Elk very very big elk.
3. The cost, and frustration of going to DW or the Fort.  My wife, our son (now 6) and I have been going to the fort every fall (Mid Sept) for over 10 years.  Our first year going we made reservations about 8 weeks out and hand APs for the parks.  As they years went by and my son was born (Oct 1, 2014) we moved our trip to Late Oct - Early Nov so we could do the Halloween Party and Christmas Party.  By this time we had to book our site over a year in advance.  This is where frustration with Disney, and the booking systems started for me in 2014 or 2015.
We missed 2020 due to me coming down with Covid but had done a fly down trip and stayed in a resort.  Then another fly down trip in March 21 when we renewed our APs and they gave us a large discount on a room.
Our  trips into the parks where a huge letdown.  While the parks were open, and most attractions were open they Magic was gone.  Completely Gone.  We saw No cast members making magical moments by interaction with guests.  The parks were not clean (clean to Disney Standard).  We will be leaving on Sep 10th for a 3 week stay at the Fort, but this trip is a lets see how it goes trip for us.  The park reservation system is by far the worst thing that's been implemented.  We enjoy waking up and deciding where we want to go that day.  We never pre book Fast Passes, usually only pre book a few meals.  Disney has taking our laid back family vacation and put us on their schedule.

I'm going to touch on a few topic that i've read in this multi page thread.
 
1. Is FF slowing down?  Answer yes, I think other social media consumes peoples free time online.  I think they get most of their breaking news / updates there and come here just to see if anyone they know has something going on.  I'm not a social media user I only use Discord and involved in several topic servers there.
2. There are no moose in Great Smokey Mountains National Park, they would be Elk very very big elk.
3. The cost, and frustration of going to DW or the Fort.  My wife, our son (now 6) and I have been going to the fort every fall (Mid Sept) for over 10 years.  Our first year going we made reservations about 8 weeks out and hand APs for the parks.  As they years went by and my son was born (Oct 1, 2014) we moved our trip to Late Oct - Early Nov so we could do the Halloween Party and Christmas Party.  By this time we had to book our site over a year in advance.  This is where frustration with Disney, and the booking systems started for me in 2014 or 2015.
We missed 2020 due to me coming down with Covid but had done a fly down trip and stayed in a resort.  Then another fly down trip in March 21 when we renewed our APs and they gave us a large discount on a room.
Our  trips into the parks where a huge letdown.  While the parks were open, and most attractions were open they Magic was gone.  Completely Gone.  We saw No cast members making magical moments by interaction with guests.  The parks were not clean (clean to Disney Standard).  We will be leaving on Sep 10th for a 3 week stay at the Fort, but this trip is a lets see how it goes trip for us.  The park reservation system is by far the worst thing that's been implemented.  We enjoy waking up and deciding where we want to go that day.  We never pre book Fast Passes, usually only pre book a few meals.  Disney has taking our laid back family vacation and put us on their schedule.

I'm going to touch on a few topic that i've read in this multi page thread.
 
1. Is FF slowing down?  Answer yes, I think other social media consumes peoples free time online.  I think they get most of their breaking news / updates there and come here just to see if anyone they know has something going on.  I'm not a social media user I only use Discord and involved in several topic servers there.
2. There are no moose in Great Smokey Mountains National Park, they would be Elk very very big elk.
3. The cost, and frustration of going to DW or the Fort.  My wife, our son (now 6) and I have been going to the fort every fall (Mid Sept) for over 10 years.  Our first year going we made reservations about 8 weeks out and hand APs for the parks.  As they years went by and my son was born (Oct 1, 2014) we moved our trip to Late Oct - Early Nov so we could do the Halloween Party and Christmas Party.  By this time we had to book our site over a year in advance.  This is where frustration with Disney, and the booking systems started for me in 2014 or 2015.
We missed 2020 due to me coming down with Covid but had done a fly down trip and stayed in a resort.  Then another fly down trip in March 21 when we renewed our APs and they gave us a large discount on a room.
Our  trips into the parks where a huge letdown.  While the parks were open, and most attractions were open they Magic was gone.  Completely Gone.  We saw No cast members making magical moments by interaction with guests.  The parks were not clean (clean to Disney Standard).  We will be leaving on Sep 10th for a 3 week stay at the Fort, but this trip is a lets see how it goes trip for us.  The park reservation system is by far the worst thing that's been implemented.  We enjoy waking up and deciding where we want to go that day.  We never pre book Fast Passes, usually only pre book a few meals.  Disney has taking our laid back family vacation and put us on their schedule.

I'm going to touch on a few topic that i've read in this multi page thread.
 
1. Is FF slowing down?  Answer yes, I think other social media consumes peoples free time online.  I think they get most of their breaking news / updates there and come here just to see if anyone they know has something going on.  I'm not a social media user I only use Discord and involved in several topic servers there.
2. There are no moose in Great Smokey Mountains National Park, they would be Elk very very big elk.
3. The cost, and frustration of going to DW or the Fort.  My wife, our son (now 6) and I have been going to the fort every fall (Mid Sept) for over 10 years.  Our first year going we made reservations about 8 weeks out and hand APs for the parks.  As they years went by and my son was born (Oct 1, 2014) we moved our trip to Late Oct - Early Nov so we could do the Halloween Party and Christmas Party.  By this time we had to book our site over a year in advance.  This is where frustration with Disney, and the booking systems started for me in 2014 or 2015.
We missed 2020 due to me coming down with Covid but had done a fly down trip and stayed in a resort.  Then another fly down trip in March 21 when we renewed our APs and they gave us a large discount on a room.
Our  trips into the parks where a huge letdown.  While the parks were open, and most attractions were open they Magic was gone.  Completely Gone.  We saw No cast members making magical moments by interaction with guests.  The parks were not clean (clean to Disney Standard).  We will be leaving on Sep 10th for a 3 week stay at the Fort, but this trip is a lets see how it goes trip for us.  The park reservation system is by far the worst thing that's been implemented.  We enjoy waking up and deciding where we want to go that day.  We never pre book Fast Passes, usually only pre book a few meals.  Disney has taking our laid back family vacation and put us on their schedule.

I'm going to touch on a few topic that i've read in this multi page thread.
 
1. Is FF slowing down?  Answer yes, I think other social media consumes peoples free time online.  I think they get most of their breaking news / updates there and come here just to see if anyone they know has something going on.  I'm not a social media user I only use Discord and involved in several topic servers there.
2. There are no moose in Great Smokey Mountains National Park, they would be Elk very very big elk.
3. The cost, and frustration of going to DW or the Fort.  My wife, our son (now 6) and I have been going to the fort every fall (Mid Sept) for over 10 years.  Our first year going we made reservations about 8 weeks out and hand APs for the parks.  As they years went by and my son was born (Oct 1, 2014) we moved our trip to Late Oct - Early Nov so we could do the Halloween Party and Christmas Party.  By this time we had to book our site over a year in advance.  This is where frustration with Disney, and the booking systems started for me in 2014 or 2015.
We missed 2020 due to me coming down with Covid but had done a fly down trip and stayed in a resort.  Then another fly down trip in March 21 when we renewed our APs and they gave us a large discount on a room.
Our  trips into the parks where a huge letdown.  While the parks were open, and most attractions were open they Magic was gone.  Completely Gone.  We saw No cast members making magical moments by interaction with guests.  The parks were not clean (clean to Disney Standard).  We will be leaving on Sep 10th for a 3 week stay at the Fort, but this trip is a lets see how it goes trip for us.  The park reservation system is by far the worst thing that's been implemented.  We enjoy waking up and deciding where we want to go that day.  We never pre book Fast Passes, usually only pre book a few meals.  Disney has taking our laid back family vacation and put us on their schedule.

So just finished a 2 night stay at the grand Floridian and 2 days in MK,  Last fall when we were down mobile ordering was available but we had dinning plan and you couldn't use dinning credits.  NOW they take dinning plan credits, but we din't have the dinning plan BUT all but 2 or 3 of our meals were ordered through the mobile ordering because the lines for food were insane.  
In my own selfish way I hope this Mobile Ordering doesn't really catch on too much to shift the wait to the mobile people.
The line for a Dole whip was about 20 minutes long.  I ordered mine as we exited the Tiki Room and it was ready within 5 minutes.

Happy to report a 2000 mile round trip to the FORT was no problem for the new GoodYear Endurance tires.  No loss of air pressure, ran really cool with the laser temp gun and tracked well.  Best part is the 87 MPH speed rating allows you to cruise at 70 or better and creep a little quicker on downhill coasting without getting nervous.  I also checked the tread depth when I was cleaning up after getting home and they all still had exactly 8/32" of tread on all grooves, just like when I left.  So far I'd recommend. 

A long time ago my father told me not to wast money on "things" but invest them on memories.  I consider our camper a memory maker for our family.  My son talk about one of our camping adventures each and every day and hes only 3.  I figure its worth the investment to build strong family bonds.

On the topic of a DVC camp ground.
If done right, it could be really nice.  I've stayed at a few of the club level suites in the Polly, and GF.  Both are really really nice, and recently we stayed at a Wilderness Lodge Copper Creak cabin (one bedroom).
Picture this.  Triple the space between you and the next site,  extra deep sites, maybe twice as deep.  Each site backs up to the lake, or around the cove that was River Country.  A DVC club room with private bathrooms, with showers.  Activity center and common room with the normal club level amenities.  Maybe each site comes with its own golf cart.
Its not for everyone, prob not for me.  But if you add enough value to whatever the cost is there will be a line of people waiting to pay for it.

As a Firefighter / EMT we carry AEDs on our engiens.  I choose to purchase one for my family after my father died suddenly of a heart attack and I was admitted to the ER 3 times in 2 years for ventricular tachycardia.  I've since had 2 surgery to fix the ventricular tachycardia.  
The AED is always in my backpack that goes everywhere I go. I carry a Siemens AED because the pads are comparable with the full fledged defibrillator so in an emergency pads dont have to be removed.
My AED was put to use once.  While in park playing with my sun a grandfather collapsed.  I grabbed my bag hooked him up to the AED and started compression.  At the prompted I stopped the AED administered a shock, then upon prompts I started compression.  This went on twice, on the 2nd shock his heart went into normal rhythm and a few moments later the squad showed up and took him away with my AED still attached.  
A day or so went by and I called the local dispatch and asked about getting my AED back and the local firehouse called me and said it was lost during the process but they replaced it with a brand new Siemens unit.
I'm very thankful I had the skills and tools to assist that man and his family.  Who knows what the outcome would have been if i didn't have it but, when the worst happens its better to have the necessary tools than to wish you had the necessary tools.  
Owning the tools isn't always good enough, you need to train with them and be comfortable with them.  

Day 3 Epcot with Grandma, and Niece.
Right off the bat, Grandma and Niece who were staying at the Contemp didn't transfer to the Epcot monorail and were lost in to the resort monorail for 20 minutes.  Not a great start to the day but hey, we are at Disney so lets just relax...
After Grandma and company arrive at the Transportation center we all get on an Epcot Monorail only to find the AC isn't working all that great and its already 45000F with enough humidity to drowned you if you take a deep breath. And per usual, its my fault the AC isn't working all that great.
Then getting through baggage checked and scanning Magic Band and finger was another huge hurdel for Grandma and Company.  Even the 3 year old did it on his first try!!
None the less just about an hour after scheduled arrival we are in the park just in the nick of time for our Meet with Mickey and friends, but first the line for Daisy Duck is short so zip over for a signature and photo opp.  

We purchased the photo pass option so I let the pros do all the work.  
Made it to Micky with 4 minutes to spare, and yes I heard a lot about how I would devastate the Grandson if we missed mickey...

Love his some Goofy! 

My man putting the moves on Minnie!

Then the big man himself.  Success, now off to The Land for Soarin.  Had to do the kid swap, and he wasn't all that jazzed about missing out on something,  But a mickey bar fixed his mood. 
After Soarin, and the Land boat snooze we decided to grab a quick service lunch.  Then the boy was starting to wear down and it was Damn hot so we went to club cool and yes, everyone did the Beverly challenge.  My wife, didn't hate it said it tasted like bad tonic water. 
At this point the boy had had it, we strapped him to his stroller and let him cry it out until he fell into a blissful sleep, somewhere between England, and France.
Then this happened :)

At Mexico he woke up, and demanded Small World, so of course we went on Gran Fiesta Tour, and sold it as Small World.  I dont think he bought it 100% but he was happy enough to be on an attraction.
After that I was finished, and we headed back to the Camper, it was after 4 and we had dinner setup at Wave and I wasn't going to wave smelling like I smelled.
Day 4 Back to the Magic AND FINALLY DO WE MAKE IT TO SMALL WORLD!!

Day 2 (October 12) started much like day one.  Birthday boy was up around 5am, again asking about The Small World..
So instead of fighting to get him back to sleep we started to slowly get moving.  First order of business was to start the truck and get fuel.  So as i headed out to get fuel for the truck the Birthday boy and Mommy set to work getting things ready to roll.  
About 30 minutes later I was back at camp ready to go only to find my two traveling companions sound asleep...  So I started to pick up the toys and pack up snacks for the day in the truck.  Not long after I finished up and sat down to eat did everyone wake up and demand donuts. Another trip to the local quick shop to buy donuts, then back to the camper and we were off, around 7am.
My big fear was leaving at 7am we would be stuck in Rush Hour traffic in Atl, as we were rough 45 minutes north.  The travel Gods were with us on this day and we breezed into Atl and hit the HOV lane and continued unstopped cruising right around 65 mph.  Just around 11am I noted the gps was going to put us into our stop just south of gainesville around 1-2pm.  The wife made a executive decision "The Fort or Bust".
So she got on the phone with Disney and they were able to add Today to our reservation.  What luck, they Can squeeze another $300 out of us.. :)
Flying through the SunPass toll lanes we were blazing the Florida turnpike asphalt at a whopping 68mph.  Suddenly Google Maps notified me of a large backup that would cost us 45 minutes!!!! But just as heart break and despair crept in, and moments before tears broke out, Google rerouted us by passing the affected area and saving getting us to the fort at 5:07pm.

Some where along the way I received a text message and email form Disney saying my site was ready.  We drew Site 431, and we were happy with our draw.  So as we pulled in the checkin like was about 4 or 5 deep at each bay and we headed through the returning guests, through the overflow lot and back into the fort.  Found our site backed the camper in hooked it up and around 5:30pm the blender was singing the victory song of a job well done.

Right about the time my 2nd frozen drink was "letting go" our neighbor pulled up.  He had seen me go through returning guests and after getting hooked up came over and asked what was up with that.  I explained I did online check in about a week ago and got my text around 11 or 12 and headed right to my spot.  He was frustrated at how long it took to get campers checked in and was annoyed he didn't know about online check in.
After the wife got the beds ready and decoration setup we headed out to get our mugs and start the explore, as well as get some dinner.  First top P & J to get mugs and see all the people getting ready for Hoop De Doo.  We got in on the fun and had a pic taken.

As you can see birthday boy was excited to be back at "The Disney" but still wondered where the Haunted Mansion was and Why no Small World...
Next stop the Pool and Sing along.  We got dinner at the chuck wagon and I got to say it was really good, not the fastest food service but well worth it.

After dinner and most of the movie we headed back to the camper past the comfort station where the Boy had to use his "Mickey Button" (magic band) on all 3 doors.  For a Birthday gift I was given one of the designer limited edition Haunted Mansion Magic bands and every once in a while it was make a noise other than the normal, its sort of a tolling bells.  We got it twice on the bathrooms.. Kinda cool.
Day 3 Visiting Epcot with a Toddler. 

I got my requested loop on my online check-in.. saved my about 30 min of sitting and waiting. The camper next to us saw us bypass check-in and got to his site after I popped my first beer in my chair after setup.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

We were on 75 around 2pm and got a text from Disney with our site number.
 
Upon arrival I used the returning guest entrance, as there was about 12 or so cars in the other line. Went through overflow parking into the Campgroung right to my site.
 
Could not have been easier.
 
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
 
 

Nope, you need to bring your own. Too many would probably "find legs".

So our trip to disney for the boys 3rd bday is just over a week away.  He got some great Disney swag for his birthday.  His favorite

So our trip to disney for the boys 3rd bday is just over a week away.  He got some great Disney swag for his birthday.  His favorite

That would be great, but I saw or heard at WDW they had a Mickey pumpkin head bucket. 

I have decided to start a new podcast that I think Fort Fiend members might find interesting. It's called The DisCamp Podcast. It focuses on Fort Wilderness, WDW and camping around the US. I just got through recording an Irma episode. The audio quality is pretty rough right now and I'm not the best at podcasting but hopefully It gets better. If anybody would be interested in coming on the podcast, I would love to have you on. I am hoping to do a Halloween at the Fort episode next. We have a trip coming up in October and I would love to hear some advice and tips during the Halloween season. I would also be open to record a podcast on just about any topic anyone would like to discuss. Anyway, hope ya'll take a few minutes to listen. 
 
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-discamp-podcast/id1281369946?mt=2
 
 

Made it.  Thanks.  Since the beer lines are down, I will have a small but quality supply of beer (St Pauli Girl and Leinenkugels Summer Shandy) along with Kungaloosh and frozen pina coladas at the Outback.  Stop by for an adult beverage.

After our trip I will send messages out of how many extra cards I have.  I hope to have about 3 or 4 extras.